Detroit Free Press
"Victor Martinez is in New York City.
And he will be activated prior to tonight's series opener against the New York Yankees, the Detroit Tigers said Thursday.
Manager Brad Ausmus talked to Martinez on Wednesday night and, "He said he feels good," he said. "He seemed to feel like he was..."
June 19

Michigan Live
"Victor Martinez will meet the Detroit Tigers in New York this weekend.
Whether the 36-year-old designated hitter will play in a game this weekend remains to be seen.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Tuesday that Martinez will play the next two games with the Toledo Mud Hens in Syracuse before..."
June 17

Fox Sports Detroit
"Tigers manager Brad Ausmus acknowledged Monday night that they would have to examine some other options for Victor Martinez.
Martinez, a switch-hitter, is batting just .216 with a .308 on-base percentage and .270 slugging percentage, but is so limited batting from the left side (.141/.242/.153)..."
May 19

Michigan Live
"If it looks to you like Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez is running with a bit of a hitch in his step, you're not alone. Brad Ausmus sees it, too.
Ausmus, the Tigers' manager, was asked if he has noticed Martinez running gingerly this spring. Ausmus said he first spotted it..."
March 26

MLB.com
"Tigers first baseman/DH Victor Martinez's days of catching, even as an emergency option, appear to be over for now. For Andrew Romine and Hernan Perez, the catching days might be beginning.
While Tigers pitchers who weren't on the travel roster for Wednesday night's game against the Pirates had..."
March 19

Detroit Free Press
"Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez came back to his locker stall with a bat in his hand and sweat on his brow this morning.
"It's going OK," Martinez said of his fourth day of live batting practice while rehabbing from knee surgery. "It just feels good to get back to work with the..."
March 12

Detroit News
"Manager Brad Ausmus' fears regarding Victor Martinez and his well-meaning rambunctiousness were well-placed.
Ausmus felt it was best to keep Martinez, recovering from arthroscopic surgery, away from spring training until he was capable of doing more baseball-related activities.
"Victor isn't..."
March 03

Detroit Free Press
"A week of not-so-anxious waiting is coming to an end.
Sometime this afternoon, the Detroit Tigers will know the severity of Victor Martinez's left knee injury, suffered while participating in baseball activities two weeks ago.
Martinez tore the medial meniscus in his left knee and, according..."
February 10

MLB.com
"For the second time in four years, Victor Martinez has suffered a major knee injury during offseason workouts. This one doesn’t appear to be as severe, but it’ll put the start of his season in question.
The Tigers announced Thursday that Martinez has torn the medial meniscus in left knee...."
February 06

Hardball Talk
"Bad news for the Tigers:
Jason Beck:
#Tigers announce Victor Martinez tore his medial meniscus in left knee during workouts last week. Scheduled for surgery with Dr. Andrews.
The Tigers just signed Martinez to a four-year, $68 million deal. Now he’s going under the knife.
"
February 05

ESPN
"The Detroit Tigers and veteran Victor Martinez have agreed to a four-year deal, a team source told ESPN's Jim Bowden.
The deal will be worth around $70 million, sources told ESPN Deportes' Enrique Rojas.
Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski had said Tuesday that re-signing Martinez was the..."
November 12

CBS Sports
"The Blue Jays have joined at least the Mariners and incumbent Tigers in the derby for top free-agent hitter Victor Martinez, who posted an MVP type season at the right time.
Toronto is seen as having the greatest needs at second base (or third base) and in the bullpen, though it recently traded..."
November 11

Hardball Talk
"Celebrated Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski has a very difficult couple of months ahead of him. Not only is he faced with the annual questions about the state of his bullpen, but he could lose 2013 AL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and 2014 AL MVP candidate Victor Martinez in..."
October 06

Detroit News
"No need, immediately, to get this Victor Martinez matter settled. The Tigers have their 35-year-old slugging machine under contract through the end of this season, which means May is not exactly bumping against any renewal deadlines.
But it is possible the Tigers will want a hitter so..."
May 09

Bless You Boys
"It took 154 games to end the streak, but Monday night Victor Martinez struck out looking for the first time since May 21, 2013. Martinez had been struck out only three times in 2014 until Monday evening, and it took him over a month to accumulate his fourth.
The previous caught-looking was on..."
May 06

Detroit News
"Maybe not the absolute first.
But one of the first things the Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez did after arriving at Joker Marchant Stadium was to put on his catching gear.
With good reason.
At some point, probably early in the season — and probably more than last year — Martinez..."
February 14

ESPN
"Victor Martinez seems unsure of his future with the Detroit Tigers after the 2014 season, saying he wants to stay but also realizing where he stands on the team's pecking order.
"I want to stay here, yes," Martinez told reporters at the team's TigerFest. "But they have a lot going on. They have..."
January 28

Detroit Free Press
"ictor Martinez wants a ring before he retires. He still thinks it is possible to win one with the Detroit Tigers.
“We still have a great team,” Martinez said on Saturday at Comerica Park, where he took part in the annual TigerFest. “We still have a great shot to win a World Series. See what..."
January 26

MLB.com
"The Tigers couldn't grab a win in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday against the Red Sox and they dodged a big blow to their lineup.
Victor Martinez grabbed his left quad after hitting a one-out single in the ninth inning before gingerly walking off the field for a..."
October 16

Detroit Free Press
"In one sentence Jim Leyland said a mouthful.
“It looks like on Thursday Martinez is going to catch and Miguel Cabrera will (be the) DH” the Tigers manager said at his pre-game news conference today. “I’m going to leave it at that.”
Several weeks ago Leyland mentioned that he could make this..."
September 18

CBS Sports
"For the first time in 749 days Victor Martinez is starting a game behind the plate at catcher. The Tigers don't want to lose his bat as they open a weekend series on the road against the Mets in Citi Field an NL park with no DH.
"I'm contemplating -- contemplating only -- catching him a game in..."
August 23

Detroit News
"Three weeks shy of the All-Star break, the Tigers sit comfortably in first place in the American League Central, 10 games over .500 after taking three of four from the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox.
They lead the majors in hitting and on-base percentage. They rank second in runs scored and run..."
June 25

Detroit Free Press
"With the designated hitter not in use in the National League, the Tigers will have Victor Martinez available as a pinch-hitter for the two games against the Nationals.
“Just be ready for that AB,” Martinez said before Tuesday night’s game at Nationals Park was postponed by rain.
“He can hit,..."
May 08

Detroit News
"Now, the Nationals. And now, there will be no Victor Martinez.
Not in the starting lineup, anyway, as the Tigers move to Nationals Park for Tuesday-Wednesday games against a National League team that, because it is playing at home and observes league rules, won't be using the designated..."
May 06

Detroit Free Press
"Victor Martinez is working hard. Both of him.
Like all switch-hitters, Martinez is really two hitters: the right-handed hitter and the left-handed hitter.
Both require constant maintenance. One can be cold and the other can be hot. Right now for Martinez, both are cold:
Left-handed, he’s..."
April 23

Detroit News
"Designated hitter Victor Martinez is out of the lineup for the Tigers and is listed as day-to-day because he cut his right thumb on the bat rack.
The cut, sustained on Sunday, required eight stitches.
Andy Dirks was penciled into the Tigers' lineup as the designated hitter for the game on..."
April 09

Detroit Free Press
"Some Opening Day perspectives on the Tigers' lineup for today:
Austin Jackson, centerfielder. It's his fourth Opening Day in the majors -- and his fourth as the leadoff hitter and centerfielder. In both roles he succeeded Curtis Granderson.
Torii Hunter, rightfielder. He makes his Tigers..."
April 01

Michigan Live
"Tigers manager Jim Leyland isn't ruling it out.
Victor Martinez will enter the season as the club's everyday designated hitter, but when interleague play rolls around, there's a "strong possibility" he could start at catcher.
That's all Leyland is willing to consider right now.
"Eventually,..."
March 22

Sporting News
"When tallying the reasons the Detroit Tigers are the overwhelming favorites to repeat as AL Central champions, you start with the presence of Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander.
Then you can factor in the arrival of Torii Hunter and the return of Anibal Sanchez. And don’t forget the emergence..."
March 06

Michigan Live
"Question: How many games will Victor Martinez start at catcher?
James Schmehl: Martinez wants to catch this year. He worked out in catcher's gear in workouts and claims he'll be ready when called upon. My guess? That call won't come.
Barring an emergency scenario, Martinez won't see playing..."
March 06

Detroit News
"It was planned all along.
That's Leyland said about Victor Martinez getting the extended amount of time out of the lineup that he's now getting.
Three games and four days, in other words.
Martinez — who missed all of 2012 because of left knee surgery but said as recently as Saturday that..."
March 04

Detroit News
"His absence from the Tigers lineup for Saturday's and Sunday's games is ominous, but Victor Martinez insisted Saturday that all is well with his recovering left knee.
"Everything's perfect," the Tigers designated hitter said Saturday morning in the Tigers clubhouse.
Martinez was removed from..."
March 03

Detroit Free Press
"It is dark when Victor Martinez arrives at Joker Marchant Stadium every morning. And quiet -- not too many major leaguers enter the clubhouse at 6 a.m. this time of the year.
There is a reason Martinez's swing has looked smooth and powerful this spring training -- a year after suffering a torn..."
March 03

Detroit News
"Not even Victor Martinez could have known what Victor Martinez and the Tigers were getting when a skilled hitter and a needy team were reunited ahead of spring camp.
It wasn't blasphemy to wonder if the guy they call V-Mart might be creaky from a year layoff and a 34th birthday. Science tells..."
February 25

Detroit Free Press
"In his 1960 essay on Ted Williams, John Updike touched on how Williams always could hit after he'd had a long absence, either for military service or because of an injury:
"... yet he always came back, and always looked like himself. The delicate mechanism of timing and power seemed locked,..."
February 25

Detroit Free Press
"Bruce Rondon, a rookie trying to become the Tigers' closer, stood on the mound at Joker Marchant Stadium on Saturday in his first spring training game.
Rondon already had walked one and hit the umpire on the leg with another pitch when Toronto catcher Josh Thole stepped into the batter's..."
February 24

Detroit News
"Picture this: In his first at-bat on Friday against the Atlanta Braves, Victor Martinez hits a gapper.
He's fine rounding first, fine heading into second and might even have a shot at third. What does he do? If you were a coach, for that matter, what would you do? Would you automatically stop..."
February 22

Michigan Live
"It had been more than 16 months since Victor Martinez had last faced live pitching in a game situation.
He said Friday afternoon that it felt like the first time.
"I don't know how to explain it," Martinez said. "It was like I was just called up to the big leagues all over..."
February 22

Detroit Free Press
"Victor Martinez is due to bat for the Detroit Tigers on Friday for the first time in 496 days.
The last time he did so was in the final game of the 2011 AL championship series in Texas.
Three months later, in January of last year, Martinez tore up his knee while working out. He missed the..."
February 21

Detroit News
"Victor Martinez is looking forward to it all.
The 20-minute drive from his house outside of Orlando to the Braves' ballpark in Lake Buena Vista; putting on his uniform for the Tigers' first exhibition game — but most of all, playing in his first game of any kind in more than a year after a knee..."
February 21

Michigan Live
"In 2011, the designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers hit .330 with 12 home runs, 103 RBIs and an .850 OPS.
In 2012, the designated hitter for the Tigers hit .267 with 18 home runs, 74 RBIs and a .707 OPS.
In 2013, the designated hitter for the Tigers is very likely to post numbers somewhere..."
February 14

Bless You Boys
"That January day when we learned of Victor Martinez's knee injury was a worrisome one. The Tigers were coming off their first Central Division title, and optimism about the upcoming season was easy to find. But when you take one of the best batters out of the middle of the lineup, there's a big..."
February 14